Systems and methods for configuring and deploying multi-access edge computing applications

ABSTRACT

A device may include a processor configured to determine a plurality of requirements for a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) application requested by a customer; select a solution blueprint for the MEC application, from a set of solution blueprints, based on the determined plurality of requirements, wherein the solution blueprint includes an application deployment blueprint and a connectivity blueprint; and receive approval of the selected solution blueprint from the customer. The processor may be further configured to configure at least one transport network device based on the connectivity blueprint, in response to receiving the approval of the selected solution blueprint from the customer; and deploy at least one component of the MEC application on a MEC device in a MEC network based on the application deployment blueprint, in response to receiving the approval of the selected solution blueprint from the customer.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

To satisfy the needs and demands of users of mobile communicationdevices, providers of wireless communication services continue toimprove and expand available services as well as networks used todeliver such services. One aspect of such improvements includes enablingmobile communication devices to access and use various services via theprovider's communication network. The communications network may need toprovide different types of services to a large number of diverse devicesunder various conditions. Managing a large number of different servicesunder different conditions poses various challenges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an environment according to an implementationdescribed herein;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a device thatmay be included in an environment according to an implementationdescribed herein;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of anorchestration system according to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of therequirements classifier of FIG. 3 according to an implementationdescribed herein;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a blueprintsdatabase according to an implementation described herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for selecting and deploying a solutionblueprint according to an implementation described herein; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an exemplary deployment according to animplementation described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same orsimilar elements.

As communication networks and services increase in size, complexity, andnumber of users, management of the communication networks has becomemore complex. One way in which wireless networks are becoming morecomplicated is by incorporating various aspects of next generationnetworks, such as 5th generation (5G) mobile networks, utilizing highfrequency bands (e.g., 24 Gigahertz, 39 GHz, etc.), and/or lowerfrequency bands such as Sub 6 GHz, and a large number of antennas. 5GNew Radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT) provides significantimprovements in bandwidth and/or latency over other wireless networktechnology. Additionally, a 5G core network supports and manages 5Gradio access networks (RANs) that include base stations, providingvarious services and enabling connections to other networks (e.g.,connections to the Internet, etc.). As an example, a 5G core network mayprovide support for enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable lowlatency communication (URLLC), massive Machine Type Communication(mMTC), and/or other types of communications.

Another enhancement to wireless communication services to reduce latencyis the use of Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) architecture. The MECarchitecture includes devices and associated connections located at thenetwork edge relative to the point of attachment of a wireless userequipment (UE) device to a wireless communication network via a basestation. Thus, the MEC network may be located in geographic proximity tothe base station and be close to the base station from a networktopology perspective. The devices in a MEC network may implementservices previously implemented in a core network and/or a cloudcomputing center and enable processing to be offloaded from the corenetwork and/or cloud computing center at a reduced latency.

In order to deploy an application in a MEC network, an applicationdeveloper may need to upload application components to the MEC network,calculate the required resources for running the application, andreserve the required resources in the MEC network. Furthermore,deploying the application in the MEC network may require manuallyconfiguring a transport network to enable users to access the deployedapplication in the MEC network. Manually calculating and reservingresources in a MEC network, as well as manually configuring a transportnetwork, may be cumbersome and time-consuming for developers of MECapplications.

Implementations described herein relate to systems and method forconfiguring and deploying MEC applications. An orchestration system mayreceive a request, from a customer (e.g., an app developer, anenterprise seeking to deploy an app for its employees or customers,etc.) via an ordering system, to configure and deploy a MEC application.The orchestration system may determine a set of requirements for the MECapplication based on the request and select a solution blueprint for theMEC application from a set of solution blueprints based on thedetermined set of requirements. The solution blueprint may include anapplication blueprint and a connectivity blueprint. The applicationblueprint may specify the deployment of the MEC application and theconnectivity blueprint may specify configuration of the transportnetwork to enable UE devices to access the MEC application.

In some implementations, selecting the solution blueprint for the MECapplication may include using a machine learning model to select thesolution blueprint from a set of solution blueprints or using agenerative machine learning model to generate the solution blueprintbased on the determined requirements.

The orchestration system may provide the selected solution blueprint tothe customer (e.g., app. developer, enterprise associated with a set ofUE devices for its employees and/or customers, etc.), receivemodifications for the selected solution blueprint from the customer,modify the selected solution blueprint based on the receivedmodification, and receive approval of the modified solution blueprintfrom the customer. In response to receiving approval from the customer,the orchestration system may implement the solution blueprint bydeploying components of the MEC application on one or more MEC devicesin a MEC network based on the deployment blueprint. Furthermore, theorchestration system may configure transport network devices in acommunication path between UE devices associated with the customer andthe MEC network on which the MEC application is deployed.

Determining the set of requirements for the MEC application may includereceiving a description (e.g., in a document, etc.) of the MECapplication requirements from the customer, performing keywordextraction on the received description to identify a set of keywords,and mapping the set of keywords to a set of requirements. In someimplementations, the mapping may be performed using a machine learningmodel trained to map keywords to requirements associated with MECapplications. If the orchestration system detects that a particularrequirement is not specified for the MEC application requested by thecustomer, the orchestration system may select a default value for theparticular requirement in response.

The set of requirements may include, for example, a performancerequirement associated with the MEC application, a capacity requirementassociated with the MEC application, a location associated with the MECapplication, a user type associated with the MEC application, a securityrequirement associated with the MEC application, an availabilityrequirement associated with the MEC application, an elasticityrequirement associated with the MEC application (e.g., whether thedeployment is to be continuous or active during particular time periods,etc.), a bandwidth requirement associated with the MEC application, anapplication type associated with the MEC application, and/or anothertype of requirement that may be specified for a MEC applicationdeployment.

The connectivity blueprint may include, for example, informationidentifying a connection type for a connection to access the MECapplication, a transport network device for the connection, reservedprocessing resources of a transport network device associated with theconnection, a network path for the connection, a redundancy path for theconnection, a reserved bandwidth for the connection, a firewall ruleassociated with the connection, key performance indicators (KPIs)measured for the connection, a network slice associated with theconnection, and/or other types of configuration information for enablingUE devices to communicate with a MEC application.

The application deployment blueprint may include, for example,information identifying a network function deployment type for theapplication deployment, a deployment location for the applicationdeployment, processing resources reserved for the applicationdeployment, storage resources reserved for the application deployment, aset of microservices to be deployed for the application deployment, KPIsto be measured for the application deployment, and/or other types ofdeployment information for deploying a MEC application.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary environment 100 in which the systemsand/or methods, described herein, may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, environment 100 may include UE devices 110-A to 110-N (referred toherein collectively as “UE devices 110” and individually as “UE device110”), a private network 112 that includes a WiFi Access Point (AP) 114,a radio access network (RAN) 120 that includes base stations 125-A to125-M (referred to herein collectively as “base stations 125” andindividually as “base station 125”) and network device(s) 130, MECnetwork(s) 140 that include MEC device(s) 145, core network 150 thatincludes an ordering system 160, an orchestration system 170, adeployment system 180, and a packet data networks (PDN) 190 thatincludes an application server 195.

UE device 110 may include any device with cellular wirelesscommunication functionality. For example, UE device 110 may include ahandheld wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet device, etc.); a wearable computer device (e.g., ahead-mounted display computer device, a head-mounted camera device, awristwatch computer device, etc.); a laptop computer, a tablet computer,or another type of portable computer; a desktop computer; a customerpremises equipment (CPE) device, such as a set-top box or a digitalmedia player (e.g., Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, etc.),a WiFi access point, a smart television, etc.; a portable gaming system;a global positioning system (GPS) device; a home appliance device; ahome monitoring device; and/or any other type of computer device withwireless communication capabilities and a user interface.

In some implementations, UE device 110 may communicate usingmachine-to-machine (M2M) communication, such as MTC, and/or another typeof M2M communication for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Forexample, UE device 110 may include a health monitoring device, an assettracking device, a traffic management device, a climate controllingdevice, a device controlling an electronic sign, a device controlling amanufacturing system, a device controlling a security system, a devicecontrolling a power system, a device controlling a financial transactionsystem, and/or another type of electronic device.

Private network 112 may include a wireless local area network (WLAN)serviced by WiFi AP 114 and associated with a customer. For example,private network 112 may be associated with an office building,manufacturing site, business location, etc. and UE device 110 mayconnect to core network 150 via private network 112 and WiFi AP 114.WiFi AP 114 may include a device with a transceiver configured tocommunicate with UE devices 110 using WiFi signals based on theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11standards for implementing a WLAN network. WiFi AP 114 may include acellular wireless modem and may attach to base station 125. WiFi AP 114may establish a connection to core network 150 via RAN 120. In someimplementations, WiFi AP 114 may be managed by the provider ofcommunication services that manages RAN 120 and/or core network 150 andmay be configured as part of a connectivity blueprint associated with aMEC application.

RAN 120 may enable UE devices 110 to connect to core network 150 viabase stations 125 using cellular wireless signals. For example, RAN 120may include one or more central units (CUs) and distributed units (DUs)(not shown in FIG. 1 ) that enable and manage connections from basestations 125 to core network 150. RAN 120 may include featuresassociated with an LTE Advanced (LTE-A) network, a 5G core networkand/or other advanced network. The features may include, for example,management of 5G NR base stations; carrier aggregation; advanced ormassive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) configurations (e.g.,an 8×8 antenna configuration, a 16×16 antenna configuration, a 256×256antenna configuration, etc.); cooperative MIMO (CO-MIMO); relaystations; Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) of overlapping small cellsand macrocells; Self-Organizing Network (SON) functionality; MachineType Communication (MTC) functionality, such as 1.4 Megahertz (MHz) wideenhanced MTC (eMTC) channels (also referred to as category Cat-M1), LowPower Wide Area (LPWA) technology such as Narrow Band (NB) IoT (NB-IoT)technology, and/or other types of MTC technology; and/or other types ofLTE-A and/or 5G functionality.

Base station 125 may include a 5G NR base station (e.g., a gNodeB)and/or a Fourth Generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) base station(e.g., an eNodeB). Each base station 125 may include devices and/orcomponents configured to enable cellular wireless communication with UEdevices 110. For example, base station 125 may include a radio frequency(RF) transceiver configured to communicate with UE devices using a 5G NRair interface using a 5G NR protocol stack, a 4G LTE air interface usinga 4G LTE protocol stack, and/or using another type of cellular airinterface. Base station 125 may enable communication with core network150 to enable core network 150 to authenticate UE device 110 with asubscriber management device (e.g., Home Subscriber Server (HSS) in 4G,Unified Data Management (UDM) in 5G, etc.).

RAN 120 may include network device(s) 130. Network device 130 mayinclude a transport network device that provides connectivity from basestation 125 to MEC network 140 and/or core network 150. Network device130 may include, for example, a switch, router, firewall, gateway, anoptical switching device (e.g., a reconfigurable optical add-dropmultiplexer, etc.), and/or another type of network device. Networkdevice 130 may include a physical network device with specializedhardware or a virtual network function (VNF) device implemented on topof a common shared physical infrastructure using Software DefinedNetworking (SDN). For example, an SDN controller (e.g., in orchestrationsystem 170, in deployment system 180, etc.) may implement the functionsof a transport network device using a VNF virtual machine, aCloud-Native Network Function (CNF) container, an event drivenserverless architecture interface, and/or another type of SDNarchitecture.

Each MEC network 140 may be associated with one or more base stations125 and may provide MEC services for UE devices 110 attached to the basestations 125. MEC network 140 may be in proximity to base stations 125from a geographic and network topology perspective, thus enabling lowlatency communication with UE devices 110 and/or base stations 125. Asan example, MEC network 140 may be located on a same site as one of theone or more base stations 125. As another example, MEC network 140 maybe geographically closer to the one or more base stations 125, andreachable via fewer network hops and/or fewer switches, than other basestations 125. As yet another example, MEC network 140 may be reachedwithout having to go through a gateway device, such as a 4G Packet DataNetwork Gateway (PGW) or a 5G User Plane Function (UPF).

MEC network 140 may include one or more MEC devices 145. MEC devices 145may provide MEC services to UE devices 110, such as, for example,content delivery of streaming audio and/or video, cloud computingservices, gaming, authentication services, etc. MEC device 145 may beused to deploy a MEC application for a customer based on an applicationdeployment blueprint selected for the MEC application. The MECapplication may be deployed using a virtual machine, containers sharinga common operating system (OS), an event driven serverless architectureinterface, and/or another type of deployment technique.

Core network 150 may be managed by a provider of cellular wirelesscommunication services and may manage communication sessions ofsubscribers connecting to core network 150 via RAN 120. For example,core network 150 may establish an Internet Protocol (IP) connectionbetween UE devices 110 and other networks, such as PDN 190. In someimplementations, core network 150 may include a 5G core network. Inother implementations, core network 150 may include a 4G LTE corenetwork (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) network).

Ordering system 160 may include one or more computer devices, such asserver devices, to process orders for MEC applications. For example, acustomer, such as a business, organization, government entity, etc. mayrequest deployment of a MEC application. As an example, a businesscustomer may request a messaging service with filtering rules and a lowlatency requirement to be implemented in MEC network 140. Orderingsystem 160 may provide a user interface for the business customer toprovide a description of the requirements for the messaging serviceapplication. Furthermore, ordering system 160 may include a catalog ofavailable MEC applications for deployment and/or available microservicesthat may be selected by the customer to build a MEC application. Forexample, a messaging application may be deployed using a messagingmicroservice to route messages, a security microservice to monitormessages for security threats, and a reporting microservice forreporting KPIs associated with the messaging application. Orderingsystem 160 may provide a customer order, which includes a description ofthe requested requirements for the MEC application, to orchestrationsystem 170.

Orchestration system 170 may include one or more computer devices, suchas server devices, to orchestrate deployment of a MEC application in MECnetwork 140 and/or to configure a transport network in RAN 120 and/orprivate network 112 to manage traffic associated with the MECapplication. Orchestration system 170 may select or generate a solutionblueprint based on a customer order received from ordering system 160and may orchestrate deployment of the MEC application based on thesolution blueprint. For example, orchestration system 170 may instructdeployment system 180 to deploy the MEC application based on thesolution blueprint. In some implementations, orchestration system 170may configure the transport network devices based on the solutionblueprint. In other implementations, orchestration system 170 mayinstruct deployment system 180 to perform the configuration of thetransport network devices.

Deployment system 180 may include one or more computer devices, such asserver devices, to deploy MEC applications in MEC network 140. Forexample, deployment system 180 may include a container orchestrationplatform to configure and automate container deployment, scaling, and/ormanagement. For example, the container orchestration platform may deploya MEC application as a set of microservices, with each microservicedeployed in a different container, may deploy additional instances of amicroservice based on increased load, and/or may manage the deployedinstances across different physical devices, herein also referred to asnodes. Furthermore, deployment system 180 may manage communicationbetween different microservices using a service mesh. The containerorchestration platform may organize containers into groups called podsand the service mesh may deploy a service proxy in the same pod as amicroservice container to enable the microservice to communicate withother microservices.

PDN 190 may include a packet data network. PDN 190 may be associatedwith an Access Point Name (APN) and UE device 110 may request aconnection to PDN 190 using the APN. PDN 190 may include, and/or beconnected to and enable communication with, a local area network (LAN),a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), anautonomous system (AS) on the Internet, an optical network, a cabletelevision network, a satellite network, an ad hoc network, an intranet,or a combination of networks. PDN 190 may include application server195. Application server 195 may be associated with a customer seeking todeploy a MEC application in MEC network 140. The MEC application mayinclude an application running on application server 195 and some or allof the functionality of the application may be transferred to the MECapplication deployed in MEC network 140. For example, an applicationdeployment blueprint may specify which functionality of the applicationrunning on application server 195 is to be transferred to MEC network140 and/or which types UE device 110 traffic associated with theapplication is to be routed to MEC network 140.

Although FIG. 1 shows exemplary components of environment 100, in otherimplementations, environment 100 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, differently arranged components, or additional componentsthan depicted in FIG. 1 . Additionally, or alternatively, one or morecomponents of environment 100 may perform functions described as beingperformed by one or more other components of environment 100. As anexample, while ordering system 160, orchestration system 170, and/ordeployment system 180 are shown as separate systems in FIG. 1 , in otherimplementations, orchestration system 170 may include and/or be combinedwith ordering system 160 and/or deployment system 180.

FIG. 2 illustrates example components of a device 200 according to animplementation described herein. UE device 110, WiFi AP 114, basestation 125, network device 130, MEC device 145, ordering system 160,orchestration system 170, deployment system 180, and/or applicationserver 195 may each include one or more devices 200. As shown in FIG. 2, device 200 may include a bus 210, a processor 220, a memory 230, aninput device 240, an output device 250, and a communication interface260.

Bus 210 may include a path that permits communication among thecomponents of device 200. Processor 220 may include any type ofsingle-core processor, multi-core processor, microprocessor, latch-basedprocessor, and/or processing logic (or families of processors,microprocessors, and/or processing logics) that interprets and executesinstructions. In other embodiments, processor 220 may include anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmablegate array (FPGA), and/or another type of integrated circuit orprocessing logic.

Memory 230 may include any type of dynamic storage device that may storeinformation and/or instructions, for execution by processor 220, and/orany type of non-volatile storage device that may store information foruse by processor 220. For example, memory 230 may include a randomaccess memory (RAM) or another type of dynamic storage device, aread-only memory (ROM) device or another type of static storage device,a content addressable memory (CAM), a magnetic and/or optical recordingmemory device and its corresponding drive (e.g., a hard disk drive,optical drive, etc.), and/or a removable form of memory, such as a flashmemory.

Input device 240 may allow an operator to input information into device200. Input device 240 may include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, apen, a microphone, a remote control, an audio capture device, an imageand/or video capture device, a touch-screen display, and/or another typeof input device. In some embodiments, device 200 may be managed remotelyand may not include input device 240. In other words, device 200 may be“headless” and may not include a keyboard, for example.

Output device 250 may output information to an operator of device 200.Output device 250 may include a display, a printer, a speaker, and/oranother type of output device. For example, device 200 may include adisplay, which may include a liquid-crystal display (LCD) for displayingcontent to the customer. In some embodiments, device 200 may be managedremotely and may not include output device 250. In other words, device200 may be “headless” and may not include a display, for example.

Communication interface 260 may include a transceiver that enablesdevice 200 to communicate with other devices and/or systems via wirelesscommunications (e.g., radio frequency, infrared, and/or visual optics,etc.), wired communications (e.g., conductive wire, twisted pair cable,coaxial cable, transmission line, fiber optic cable, and/or waveguide,etc.), or a combination of wireless and wired communications.Communication interface 260 may include a transmitter that convertsbaseband signals to radio frequency (RF) signals and/or a receiver thatconverts RF signals to baseband signals. Communication interface 260 maybe coupled to one or more antennas/antenna arrays for transmitting andreceiving RF signals.

Communication interface 260 may include a logical component thatincludes input and/or output ports, input and/or output systems, and/orother input and output components that facilitate the transmission ofdata to other devices. For example, communication interface 260 mayinclude a network interface card (e.g., Ethernet card) for wiredcommunications and/or a wireless network interface (e.g., a WiFi) cardfor wireless communications. Communication interface 260 may alsoinclude a universal serial bus (USB) port for communications over acable, a Bluetooth™ wireless interface, a radio-frequency identification(RFID) interface, a near-field communications (NFC) wireless interface,and/or any other type of interface that converts data from one form toanother form.

As will be described in detail below, device 200 may perform certainoperations relating to selecting and implementing a solution blueprintfor deploying a MEC application. Device 200 may perform these operationsin response to processor 220 executing software instructions containedin a computer-readable medium, such as memory 230. A computer-readablemedium may be defined as a non-transitory memory device. A memory devicemay be implemented within a single physical memory device or spreadacross multiple physical memory devices. The software instructions maybe read into memory 230 from another computer-readable medium or fromanother device. The software instructions contained in memory 230 maycause processor 220 to perform processes described herein.Alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of, or incombination with, software instructions to implement processes describedherein. Thus, implementations described herein are not limited to anyspecific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

Although FIG. 2 shows exemplary components of device 200, in otherimplementations, device 200 may include fewer components, differentcomponents, additional components, or differently arranged componentsthan depicted in FIG. 2 . Additionally, or alternatively, one or morecomponents of device 200 may perform one or more tasks described asbeing performed by one or more other components of device 200.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of orchestrationsystem 170. The components of orchestration system 170 may beimplemented, for example, via processor 220 executing instructions frommemory 230. Alternatively, some or all of the components oforchestration system 170 may be implemented via hard-wired circuitry. Asshown in FIG. 3 , orchestration system 170 may include a blueprintmanagement interface 310, a blueprint database (DB) 320, an orderingsystem interface 330, a keywords extractor 340, a requirementsclassifier 350, a blueprint selector 360, a deployment DB 365, adeployment system interface 370, and a transport network configurationengine 380.

Blueprint management interface 310 may enable an administrator to managesolution blueprints stored in blueprint DB 320. For example, blueprintmanagement interface 310 may include a user interface to create, read,update, and/or delete solution blueprints. Blueprint DB 320 may storesolution blueprints for deploying MEC applications. Exemplaryinformation that may be stored in blueprint DB 320 is described belowwith reference to FIG. 5 .

Ordering system interface 330 may receive order information fromordering system 160. For example, ordering system interface 330 mayreceive requests to deploy MEC application from customers. A request todeploy a MEC application may include a description that includes a setof requirements for the MEC application. Ordering system interface 330may provide the description to keywords extractor 340.

Keywords extractor 340 may perform keyword extraction to identify a setof keywords to be mapped to a set of requirements associated with thedeployment of a MEC application. For example, keywords extractor 340 maycompare the content of a document that includes a description of therequirements for the deployment of the MEC application against a libraryof designated keywords and/or regular expressions to identify keywordsthat may be used to identify particular requirements. In otherimplementations, keywords extractor 340 may use a machine learning modelthat uses unsupervised learning to identify relevant keywords in thereceived description.

Requirements classifier 350 may map a set of keywords to a set ofrequirements for deploying a MEC application. In some implementations,requirements classifier 350 may map a set of keywords to the set ofrequirements based on a mapping table. In other implementations,requirements classifier 350 may use a machine learning classifier to mapthe set of keywords to the set of requirements.

The term “machine learning,” as used herein, may refer to a processperformed without requiring user interaction, by using a trainedclassifier model to make a decision, a prediction, and/or an inference.A machine learning process may refer to a process of training theclassifier using supervised learning (e.g., a labeled data set),unsupervised learning (e.g., an unlabeled data set), reinforcementlearning, and/or another type of learning methodology, and/or using thetrained classifier to arrive at the decision, prediction, and/orinference using a particular data set, and/or updating or refining atrained classifier using the particular data set.

A trained machine learning model or classifier may include, for example,one or more of a support vector machines (SVM) model, a gradientboosting model, a random forest model, a decision tree model, a naïveBayes classifier model, a K-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifier model, amaximum entropy classifier model, a kernel density estimation classifiermodel, a deep learning neural network (DNN) model (e.g., a recurrentneural network (RNN) model, such as a Long Term Short Memory (LSTM)neural network model, an attention mechanism neural network model, aGated Recurrent Units (GRU) neural network model, an independentlyrecurrent neural network (IndRNN) neural network model, a Neural TuringMachine (NTM) model, etc.), a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) model, and/oranother type of machine learning model.

Blueprint selector 360 may select a solution blueprint for deploying aMEC application based on a determined set of requirements. In someimplementations, blueprint selector 360 may map a set of requirements toa solution blueprint using a mapping table. In other implementations,blueprint selector 360 may map the set of requirements to the solutionblueprint using a trained machine learning model. An exemplary machinelearning model to select a solution blueprint is described below withreference to FIG. 4 .

Furthermore, blueprint selector 360 may provide the selected solutionblueprint to the customer via a user interface, or via ordering system160. The customer may populate fields in the solution blueprint withparticular data (e.g., by specifying locations, networks, networkdevices, UE devices 110 allowed to access the MEC application,application and/or microservice images to be used to deploy applicationor microservice instances, etc.) that may be used to deploy the MECapplication. Furthermore, the customer may make modifications to theselected solution blueprint before approving the selected solutionblueprint. After receiving the approval from the customer, blueprintselector 360 may store deployment information in deployment DB 365 anduse the solution blueprint to orchestrate the deployment of the MECapplication.

Deployment system interface 370 may be configured to communicate withdeployment system 180. For example, deployment system interface 370 mayinstruct deployment system 180 to deploy a MEC application in MECnetwork 140 based on a solution blueprint. Transport networkconfiguration engine 380 may configure transport network elements (e.g.,network devices 130, WiFi AP 114, etc.) along a communication pathbetween UE devices 110 that are to use the MEC application and MECdevice 145 hosting the MEC application.

Although FIG. 3 shows exemplary components of orchestration system 170,in other implementations, orchestration system 170 may include fewercomponents, different components, additional components, or differentlyarranged components than depicted in FIG. 3 . Additionally, oralternatively, one or more components of orchestration system 170 mayperform one or more tasks described as being performed by one or moreother components of orchestration system 170.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components of a solutionblueprint classification model 400 that may be included in blueprintselector 360. The components of solution blueprint classification model400 may be implemented, for example, via processor 220 executinginstructions from memory 230. Alternatively, some or all of thecomponents of solution blueprint classification model 400 may beimplemented via hard-wired circuitry. As shown in FIG. 4 , solutionblueprint classification model 400 may include a set of inputs and asolution blueprint output 460. The set of inputs may include performancerequirements 410, capacity requirements 415, location requirements 420,user type requirements 425, security requirements 430, availabilityrequirements 435, elasticity requirements 440, bandwidth requirements445, and application type requirements 450.

Performance requirements 410 may include performance requirements forthe MEC application, such as, for example, a latency requirement, apacket delivery rate requirement, a packet delay variation requirement,an error rate requirement, and/or another type of performancerequirement associated with the MEC application.

Capacity requirements 415 may include capacity requirements for the MECapplication, such as, for example, a processing capacity requirement, amemory capacity requirement, a storage capacity requirement, a number ofactive sessions requirement, and/or another type of capacity requirementassociated with the MEC application.

Location requirements 420 may include location requirements for the MECapplication, such as, for example, a set of geographic locations atwhich the MEC application is to be deployed, the number of locations atwhich the MEC application is to be deployed, the types of location atwhich the MEC application is to be deployed, and/or another types oflocation requirement associated with the MEC application. User typerequirements 425 may include user type requirements for the MECapplication, such as, for example, whether UE devices 110 using the MECapplication are stationary or mobile (e.g., moving between base stations125 associated with different MEC networks 140), whether UE devices 110using the MEC application are associated with human users or correspondto MTC devices, a total number of UE devices 110 expected to use the MECapplication, an average number of UE devices 110 expected to use the MECapplication during a particular time period, and/or another types ofuser type requirement associated with the MEC application.

Security requirements 430 may include security requirements for the MECapplication, such as, for example, a security level for the MECapplication (e.g., high, medium, low, etc.), a type of encryptionrequired for the MEC application, a type of authentication required byUE devices 110 to use the MEC application, a type of security procedurerequired for the MEC application (e.g., a deep packet inspection, awhitelist of users allowed to use the MEC application, etc.), and/oranother type of security requirement for the MEC application.

Availability requirements 435 may include an availability requirementfor the MEC application, such as, for example, a guaranteed percentageof time that the MEC application is available, types of events duringwhich the availability of the MEC application is guaranteed (e.g., anetwork failure, etc.), and/or another type of availability requirementfor the MEC application. Elasticity requirements 440 may include anelasticity requirement for the MEC application, such as, for example,whether the MEC application is to be available continuously or deployedduring particular time periods, a duration of deployment for the MECapplication, and/or another type of elasticity requirement for the MECapplication.

Bandwidth requirements 445 may store a bandwidth and/or throughputrequirement for the MEC application. Application type requirements 450may include an application type requirement for the MEC application,such as information identifying a particular application and/or a set ofmicroservices to be deployed for the application, a classification forthe application (e.g., a messaging application, a gaming application, acloud computing application, etc.), and/or another application typerequirement for the MEC application.

Each input into solution blueprint classification model 400 may berepresented as an input vector of features and solution blueprint output460 may correspond to an output vector representing a particularsolution blueprint stored in blueprints DB 320. Thus, the solutionblueprints stored in blueprints DB 320 may represent a set of outputclasses and solution blueprint classification model 400 may select aparticular output class as the most likely output class corresponding toa set of inputs. The set of output classes may be updated at particularintervals (e.g., when an administrator adds a new solution blueprint toblueprints DB 320, etc.) and solution blueprint classification model 400may be retrained or updated in response.

Furthermore, in some implementations, blueprint selector 360 may includeadditional machine learning models. For example, blueprint selector 360may include a generative machine learning model that is trained togenerate new solution blueprints using a generative adversarial network(e.g., wherein solution blueprint classification model 400 acts as thediscriminative model). The generative machine learning model maygenerate a new solution blueprint for a particular combination ofrequirements and the generated solution blueprint may be added toblueprints DB 320 after an administrator approves the generated solutionblueprint.

Although FIG. 4 shows exemplary inputs and outputs of solution blueprintclassification model 400, in other implementations, solution blueprintclassification model 400 may include fewer inputs, different inputs oroutputs, additional inputs or outputs, or differently arranged inputs oroutputs than depicted in FIG. 4 .

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating exemplary information stored inblueprints DB 320. As shown in FIG. 5 , blueprints DB 320 may includeone or more blueprint records 500. Each blueprint record 500 may storeinformation relating to a particular solution blueprint. Blueprintrecord 500 may include a blueprint identifier (ID) field 505, anapplication deployment blueprint 510, and a connectivity blueprint 530.Fields of application deployment blueprint 510 and/or connectivityblueprint 530 that specify particular locations, network devices,network paths, application or microservice image locations, etc. may bespecified in the solution blueprint by the customer during the approvalprocess and stored in deployment DB 365.

Blueprint ID field 505 may store an ID associated with a particularsolution blueprint. Application deployment blueprint 510 may store theapplication deployment blueprint associated with the particular solutionblueprint. Application deployment blueprint 510 may include a deploymenttype field 512, a deployment location field 514, a reserved processingresources field 516, a reserved storage resources field 518, amicroservices field 520, and a monitored KPIs field 522.

Deployment type field 512 may include information identifying adeployment type, such as, for example, deployment in a virtual machine,deployment in containers, deployment using event driven serverlessarchitecture, and/or another type of deployment. Deployment locationfield 514 may include information identifying a location for thedeployment, such as, for example, a particular geographic location, aparticular MEC network 140, a particular RAN 130, and/or another type ofdeployment location.

Reserved processing resources field 516 may store informationidentifying the processing resources that are to be reserved for theapplication deployment. Reserved storage resources field 518 may storeinformation identifying memory and/or persistent storage resources thatare to be reserved for the application deployment. Microservices field520 may store information identifying a set of microservices that are tobe deployed. For example, microservices field 520 may identify images ofthe microservices in an image registry from which the microserviceinstances are to be generated. If the application is not to be deployedas a set of microservices, but as a monolithic application,microservices field 520 may identify an image of the application in theimage registry from which the application instance is to be deployed.Monitored KPIs field 522 may store information identifying one or moreKPIs that are to be monitored for the application after deployment.

Connectivity blueprint 530 may store the connectivity blueprintassociated with the particular solution blueprint. Connectivityblueprint 530 may include a connection type field 532, a devices field534, a reserved transport resources field 536, a network path field 538,a redundancy path field 540, a reserved bandwidth field 542, a firewallpolicies field 544, a monitored transport KPIs field 546, and a networkslice field 548.

Connection type field 532 may store information identifying a connectiontype from UE devices 110 to the deployment location of the MECapplication, such as a cellular connection, a WiFi connection, a WiFiover cellular connection, a Layer 2 transport network connection, aLayer 3 transport network connection, and/or another type of connection.Devices field 534 may store information identifying transport networkdevices for the connection from UE devices 110 to the deploymentlocation of the MEC application, such as, for example, network device130 (e.g., a switch, router, firewall, gateway device, etc.), WiFi AP114, and/or another type of device. Reserved transport resources field536 may store information identifying reserved transport networkresources, such as, for example, reserved processing and/or memoryresources for the transport network devices for the connection from UEdevices 110 to the deployment location of the MEC application.

Network path field 538 may store information identifying a primarynetwork path for the connection from UE devices 110 to the deploymentlocation of the MEC application. Redundancy path field 540 may storeinformation identifying a redundancy network path for the connectionfrom UE devices 110 to the deployment location of the MEC application.Reserved bandwidth field 542 may store information identifying thereserved bandwidth for the connection from UE devices 110 to thedeployment location of the MEC application.

Firewall policies field 544 may specify a set of firewall policies thatare to be applied to packets associated with the connection from UEdevices 110 to the deployment location of the MEC application. Monitoredtransport KPIs field 546 may store information identifying one or moreKPIs that are to be monitored for the connection from UE devices 110 tothe deployment location of the MEC application. Network slice field 548may store information identifying a network slice for the connectionfrom UE devices 110 to the deployment location of the MEC application.

Although FIG. 5 shows exemplary components of blueprints DB 320, inother implementations, blueprints DB 320 may include fewer components,different components, additional components, or differently arrangedcomponents than depicted in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart for selecting and deploying a solutionblueprint according to an implementation described herein. In someimplementations, process 600 of FIG. 6 may be performed by orchestrationsystem 170. In other implementations, some or all of process 600 may beperformed by another device or a group of devices separate fromorchestration system 170.

As shown in FIG. 6 , process 600 may include receiving a description ofrequirements for a MEC application from a customer (block 610),extracting keywords from the received description (bock 620), andmapping the extracted keywords to a set of requirements (block 630). Forexample, ordering system 160 may provide a document that includes adescription of requirements for a MEC application to be deployed toorchestration system 170. Orchestration system 170 may perform keywordextraction on the received description to identify a set of keywords andmap the set of keywords to a set of requirements. The set ofrequirements may be represented as a set of input vectors for solutionblueprint classification model 400.

Process 600 may further include selecting a solution blueprint based onthe set of requirements (block 640), enabling the customer to modify thesolution blueprint (block 650), and receiving approval of the solutionblueprint from the customer (block 660). For example, orchestrationsystem 170 may use solution blueprint classification model 400 to selecta solution blueprint from blueprints DB 320. Orchestration system 170may provide the selected blueprint to the customer via ordering system160 and the customer may make one or more modifications to the selectedblueprint. For example, the customer may specify one or more deploymentlocations, add additional deployment locations, change the amount ofreserved resources or reserved bandwidth for the deployment, specify adesired network path, request a redundancy path, add, remove, or modifya firewall rule, specify image locations for a set of microservices,and/or otherwise modify the solution blueprint before approval. Once thecustomer approves a solution blueprint, the solution blueprint may bestored in deployment DB 365.

Process 600 may further include configuring transport network devicesbased on the solution blueprint (block 670) and deploying components ofthe MEC application based on the solution blueprint (block 680). Forexample, orchestration system 170 may instruct deployment system 180 todeploy the MEC application based on the approved solution blueprint.Furthermore, orchestration system 170 may configure transport networkdevices for the connection between UE devices 110, which are to use thedeployed MEC application, and the deployed location of the MECapplication.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an exemplary deployment 700 according to animplementation described herein. Assume a customer that owns afabrication plant seeks to deploy a low latency MTC messagingapplication for UE devices 110-A to 110-X in private network 112 in thefabrication plant that maintains a record of all messages sent orreceived by the MTC devices. Orchestration system 170 may select asolution blueprint with a container based deployment with a connectionfrom private network 112 to MEC network 140.

As shown in FIG. 7 , deployment 700 may include a MEC application thatis deployed as a microservice 740-A (e.g., a messaging microservice) andmicroservice 740-B (e.g., a message storing microservice) in MEC device145. Furthermore, deployment 700 may include configuration of WiFi AP114, switch 710-A, and MEC gateway 730 to route messages from UE devices110-A to 10-X to MEC device 145 and implement firewall rules to preventother UE devices from being able to access microservice 740-A.Additionally, deployment 700 may include configuration of a redundancypath in case the path that includes switch 710-A fails. The redundancypath may include configuring switch 710-B, DU 720, and switch 710-C toroute messages from UE devices 110-A to 10-X to MEC device 145 andimplement firewall rules to prevent other UE devices from being able toaccess microservice 740-A.

In the preceding specification, various preferred embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto,and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing fromthe broader scope of the invention as set forth in the claims thatfollow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded inan illustrative rather than restrictive sense.

For example, while a series of blocks have been described with respectto FIG. 6 , the order of the blocks may be modified in otherimplementations. Further, non-dependent blocks and/or signals may beperformed in parallel.

It will be apparent that systems and/or methods, as described above, maybe implemented in many different forms of software, firmware, andhardware in the implementations illustrated in the figures. The actualsoftware code or specialized control hardware used to implement thesesystems and methods is not limiting of the embodiments. Thus, theoperation and behavior of the systems and methods were described withoutreference to the specific software code—it being understood thatsoftware and control hardware can be designed to implement the systemsand methods based on the description herein.

Further, certain portions, described above, may be implemented as acomponent that performs one or more functions. A component, as usedherein, may include hardware, such as a processor, an ASIC, or a FPGA,or a combination of hardware and software (e.g., a processor executingsoftware).

It should be emphasized that the terms “comprises”/“comprising” whenused in this specification are taken to specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps or components but does not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,components or groups thereof.

The term “logic,” as used herein, may refer to a combination of one ormore processors configured to execute instructions stored in one or morememory devices, may refer to hardwired circuitry, and/or may refer to acombination thereof. Furthermore, a logic may be included in a singledevice or may be distributed across multiple, and possibly remote,devices.

For the purposes of describing and defining the present invention, it isadditionally noted that the term “substantially” is utilized herein torepresent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed toany quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or otherrepresentation. The term “substantially” is also utilized herein torepresent the degree by which a quantitative representation may varyfrom a stated reference without resulting in a change in the basicfunction of the subject matter at issue.

To the extent the aforementioned embodiments collect, store, or employpersonal information of individuals, it should be understood that suchinformation shall be collected, stored, and used in accordance with allapplicable laws concerning protection of personal information.Additionally, the collection, storage and use of such information may besubject to consent of the individual to such activity, for example,through well known “opt-in” or “opt-out” processes as may be appropriatefor the situation and type of information. Storage and use of personalinformation may be in an appropriately secure manner reflective of thetype of information, for example, through various encryption andanonymization techniques for particularly sensitive information.

No element, act, or instruction used in the present application shouldbe construed as critical or essential to the embodiments unlessexplicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article “a” isintended to include one or more items. Further, the phrase “based on” isintended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly statedotherwise.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining, by a device, aplurality of requirements for a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC)application requested by a customer; selecting, by the device, asolution blueprint for the MEC application, from a set of solutionblueprints, based on the determined plurality of requirements, whereinthe solution blueprint includes an application deployment blueprint anda connectivity blueprint; receiving, by the device, approval of theselected solution blueprint from the customer; configuring, by thedevice, at least one transport network device based on the connectivityblueprint, in response to receiving the approval of the selectedsolution blueprint from the customer; and deploying, by the device, atleast one component of the MEC application on a MEC device in a MECnetwork based on the application deployment blueprint, in response toreceiving the approval of the selected solution blueprint from thecustomer.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality ofrequirements for the MEC application requested by the customer includes:receiving a document, from the customer, describing the plurality ofrequirements for the MEC application; performing keyword extraction onthe received document to identify a set of keywords; and mapping the setof keywords to the plurality of requirements.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein mapping the set of keywords to the plurality of requirementsincludes: using a machine learning model to map the set of keywords tothe plurality of requirements.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining the plurality of requirements for the MEC applicationrequested by the customer includes: detecting that a particularrequirement, of the plurality of requirements, is not specified for theMEC application requested by the customer; and selecting a default valuefor the particular requirement, in response to detecting that theparticular requirement is not specified for the MEC applicationrequested by the customer.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of requirements includes at least one of: a performancerequirement associated with the MEC application, a capacity requirementassociated with the MEC application, a location associated with the MECapplication, a user type associated with the MEC application, a securityrequirement associated with the MEC application, an availabilityrequirement associated with the MEC application, an elasticityrequirement associated with the MEC application, a bandwidth requirementassociated with the MEC application, or an application type associatedwith the MEC application.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theconnectivity blueprint includes at least two of: a connection type for aconnection to access the MEC application, a transport network device forthe connection, reserved processing resources of a transport networkdevice associated with the connection, a network path for theconnection, a redundancy path for the connection, a reserved bandwidthfor the connection, a firewall rule associated with the connection, keyperformance indicators (KPIs) measured for the connection, or a networkslice associated with the connection.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe application deployment blueprint includes at least one of: a networkfunction deployment type associated with the application deployment,processing resources associated with the application deployment, storageresources associated with the application deployment, a set ofmicroservices associated with the application deployment, or keyperformance indicators (KPIs) measured for the application deployment.8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving approval of the selectedsolution blueprint from the customer includes: providing the selectedsolution blueprint to the customer; receiving, from the customer, amodification of the selected solution blueprint; and modifying theselected solution blueprint based on the received modification.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein selecting the solution blueprint for the MECapplication includes: using a machine learning model to select thesolution blueprint, from the set of solution blueprints, based on thedetermined plurality of requirements.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinselecting the solution blueprint for the MEC application includes: usinga generative machine learning model to generate the solution blueprintbased on the determined plurality of requirements.
 11. A devicecomprising: a processor configured to: determine a plurality ofrequirements for a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) applicationrequested by a customer; select a solution blueprint for the MECapplication, from a set of solution blueprints, based on the determinedplurality of requirements, wherein the solution blueprint includes anapplication deployment blueprint and a connectivity blueprint; receiveapproval of the selected solution blueprint from the customer; configureat least one transport network device based on the connectivityblueprint, in response to receiving the approval of the selectedsolution blueprint from the customer; and deploy at least one componentof the MEC application on a MEC device in a MEC network based on theapplication deployment blueprint, in response to receiving the approvalof the selected solution blueprint from the customer.
 12. The device ofclaim 11, wherein, when determining the plurality of requirements forthe MEC application requested by the customer, the processor is furtherconfigured to: receive a document, from the customer, describing theplurality of requirements for the MEC application; perform keywordextraction on the received document to identify a set of keywords; andmap the set of keywords to the plurality of requirements.
 13. The deviceof claim 12, wherein, when mapping the set of keywords to the pluralityof requirements, the processor is further configured to: use a machinelearning model to map the set of keywords to the plurality ofrequirements.
 14. The device of claim 11, wherein, when determining theplurality of requirements for the MEC application requested by thecustomer, the processor is further configured to: detect that aparticular requirement, of the plurality of requirements, is notspecified for the MEC application requested by the customer; and selecta default value for the particular requirement, in response to detectingthat the particular requirement is not specified for the MEC applicationrequested by the customer.
 15. The device of claim 11, wherein theplurality of requirements includes at least one of: a performancerequirement associated with the MEC application, a capacity requirementassociated with the MEC application, a location associated with the MECapplication, a user type associated with the MEC application, a securityrequirement associated with the MEC application, an availabilityrequirement associated with the MEC application, an elasticityrequirement associated with the MEC application, a bandwidth requirementassociated with the MEC application, or an application type associatedwith the MEC application.
 16. The device of claim 11, wherein theconnectivity blueprint includes at least two of: a connection type for aconnection to access the MEC application, a transport network device forthe connection, reserved processing resources of a transport networkdevice associated with the connection, a network path for theconnection, a redundancy path for the connection, a reserved bandwidthfor the connection, a firewall rule associated with the connection, keyperformance indicators (KPIs) measured for the connection, or a networkslice associated with the connection.
 17. The device of claim 11,wherein the application deployment blueprint includes at least one of: anetwork function deployment type associated with the applicationdeployment, processing resources associated with the applicationdeployment, storage resources associated with the applicationdeployment, a set of microservices associated with the applicationdeployment, or key performance indicators (KPIs) measured for theapplication deployment.
 18. The device of claim 11, wherein, whenreceiving approval of the selected solution blueprint from the customer,the processor is further configured to: provide the selected solutionblueprint to the customer; receive, from the customer, a modification ofthe selected solution blueprint; and modify the selected solutionblueprint based on the received modification.
 19. The device of claim11, wherein, when selecting the solution blueprint for the MECapplication, the processor is further configured to: use a first machinelearning model to select the solution blueprint, from the set ofsolution blueprints, based on the determined plurality of requirements,or use a second machine learning model to generate the solutionblueprint based on the determined plurality of requirements.
 20. Asystem comprising: a first device configured to: determine a pluralityof requirements for a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) applicationrequested by a customer; select a solution blueprint for the MECapplication, from a set of solution blueprints, based on the determinedplurality of requirements, wherein the solution blueprint includes anapplication deployment blueprint and a connectivity blueprint; receiveapproval of the selected solution blueprint from the customer; a seconddevice configured to: receive the selection solution blueprint from thefirst device; configure at least one transport network device based onthe connectivity blueprint, in response to receiving the approval of theselected solution blueprint from the customer; and deploy at least onecomponent of the MEC application on a MEC device in a MEC network basedon the application deployment blueprint, in response to receiving theapproval of the selected solution blueprint from the customer.